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Sydney FC outclassed by EPL's Newcastle

Brent Edwards

English Premier League club Newcastle United beat Sydney FC 4-0 at Forsyth Barr Stadium, in a performance they dedicated to two fans who died in the Malaysia Airlines MH17 disaster.

The teams wore black armbands and there was a minute's silence before kick-off on Tuesday for Newcastle fans John Alder and Liam Sweeney, killed while flying to New Zealand to watch their team's pre-season tour.

Newcastle scored three goals in the space of 15 minutes in the first half and added a fourth, seven minutes from the end, to clinch a comprehensive victory just two days after arriving from England.

Magpies manager Alan Pardew was pleased with the start to their New Zealand tour.

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"It was a good night for us, really good, and it was great to play in a roofed stadium in front of a really good crowd.

"The scoreline might have flattered us slightly but we took most of our chances and it was a fairly satisfying performance so soon after arriving in New Zealand.

"We lacked offensive options last season, particularly in the second half, but we improved that tonight and I thought that was encouraging."

Sydney FC coach Graham Arnold said the match was a wonderful experience for his players.

"We gifted Newcastle three goals through our mistakes but, overall, I thought we played pretty well.

"There were a lot of positives that we took out of the game. I'd prefer to play teams of this quality at this stage of the season who will punish us and our mistakes.

"Playing against lesser opposition can often camouflage your mistakes but, against a Premier League side of the calibre of Newcastle, we didn't get away with it and we'll learn from that.

"We have got a lot better but there is a long way still to go. I'm asking the senior players to lead by example and they mostly did, while some of the younger players also enhanced their reputations against quality opposition.

"We got into some good areas but our final ball wasn't great," he said in reference to not being able to score.

Newcastle played in their away strip of grey rather than their traditional black and white and received a rousing welcome from the Toon fans in the crowd of more than 10,000.

They opened the scoring after a howler from Sydney goalkeeper and captain Ivan Necevski, who failed to clear his own goal with a speculator. Emmanuel Riviere passed back to Dutch striker Siem de Jong who casually stroked the ball in.

It became 2-0 soon after when Riviere tapped the ball into the net past Necevski after a relentless attack led by de Jong and Yoan Gouffran.

The attack continued and Newcastle increased their lead to 3-0 after 35 minutes when right-back Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa rifled a shot in, the ball deflecting off a Sydney defender.

Newcastle were the much more creative team and they had the first chance in the second half but Harris Vuckic's shot cleared the crossbar.

Sydney had their first genuine chance 19 minutes after the break but Corey Gameiro's shot was saved by a diving Rob Elliott.

Newcastle closed the game out in style when substitute Adam Armstrong slipped the ball past the 'keeper in the 83rd minute to make it 4-0.

Newcastle will get some more time to settle in New Zealand before playing the Phoenix in Wellington on Saturday.